What's Your Favorite Video Game Soundtrack?

We asked Patrick McDermott, who runs a record label specializing in video game soundtracks, to pick his favorites.

It's not just "game music" any more; it's just "music." At this year's Moogfest music and technology festival, Patrick McDermott is leading two sessions on the art of the video game soundtrack. He helps run a record label called Ghost Ramp, which specializes in video game soundtracks, including the games Nuclear Throne and Drift Stage.

McDermott says that the walls between gaming soundtracks and standalone music, especially in Moogfest's area of electronic music, are breaking down, and that means more people will listen to game music.

"I think that the music industry will really start to move in this direction as the popularity of gaming soundtracks becomes undeniable. Gaming composers are making really progressive music ... that 'traditional' artists have been referencing for a long time," he wrote in an email.

For his favorite soundtracks on the market now, he picked GTA 5, Halo 5, and Assassin's Creed Syndicate in terms of AAA games, and FEZ, Firewatch (shown above), LISA, and Crypt of the Necrodancer for indie games. But I wanted him to go deeper, so I asked him to pick his five favorite game soundtracks in all of history. The list includes PC and console games, and shows that McDermott grew up in the '90s and likes really, really deep cuts. He uses the term "OST" a lot, which means original soundtrack.

"This is one of my favorite games of all time, basically, where you're a cockroach and roam a disturbing apartment. It's visually stunning and has a really amazing ominous, heavy ambient OST. I am a huge fan of textural dark music and this was one of my first experiences with it."

"Very famous OST, but just truly great. I feel like it was one of the early Sega soundtracks that were more hi-fi - leaving a bit of the 16-bit nostalgia behind. This OST has it all, slow atmospheric jams, but also huge melodic tracks. Such a strange game in hindsight, but the OST will go down as one of the best ever."

"This OST is legendary. Full on funk explosion. Me and my brother were obsessed with it. It truly is just a great record. The game heavily leaned on the music for its cutscenes and overall aesthetic. I think it's unique to have a 'full band' record instead of just a producer or composer - it feels totally different in a really exciting way."

PCMag.com's lead mobile analyst, Sascha Segan, has reviewed hundreds of smartphones, tablets and other gadgets in more than 9 years with PCMag. He's the head of our Fastest Mobile Networks project, one of the hosts of the daily PCMag Live Web show and speaks frequently in mass media on cell-phone-related issues. His commentary has appeared on ABC, the BBC, the CBC, CNBC, CNN, Fox News, and in newspapers from San Antonio, Texas to Edmonton, Alberta.
Segan is also a multiple award-winning travel writer, having contributed...
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